The Pack
by The Red Hoodie
Summary: SEQUEL TO The Loft! Now officially part of the pack, Stiles' life is good. And with Christmas coming, he's got a whole lot of people to buy presents for. Would his dad notice if he had a pile of dog beds in his room?


**Title: **The Pack  
**Author: **The Red Hoodie  
**Rating:** IDEK ANYMORE  
**Characters: **Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall, Erica Reyes, Jackson Whittemore, Isaac Lahey, Boyd Needs-A-Last-Name  
**Ship:** Sterek  
**Summary: **Now officially part of the pack, Stiles' life is good. And with Christmas coming, he's got a whole lot of people to buy presents for. Would his dad notice if he had a pile of dog beds in his room?  
**Notes:** SEQUEL TO THE LOFT. Thanks to the awesome response to The Loft…I'm continuing the series! There will probably be just one more one-shot after this one. We'll see how it goes. :) Enjoy and review!

* * *

**The Pack**

For the past week and a half, Stiles Stilinski had been feeling the best that he had in months. The pack was beginning to feel like home to him, and while his feelings about Derek were still a bit mixed up, he couldn't have been happier. Scott had been spending more time with him since Allison's family was becoming stricter with when she could go out, so Stiles was able to talk with his best friend about things. He still hadn't mentioned much about Derek, except that one time Scott jabbed at him about sleeping with Derek the other night. It wasn't as if Stiles was the only one who had been in the wolfpile of warm bodies, and he had brushed it off. There were just some things he had to figure out before talking to Scott about them.

School was the worst, since no one wanted to be there, and there were tests before Christmas break on top of it. Currently, it was Friday, the last day of school before the break, and exactly a week until Christmas day. Stiles was at his locker, door open, shuffling around things inside. He was humming the tune to the world's newest annoying pop song he'd heard on the radio and when he stepped back to close his locker door, his heart jumped into his throat to see Boyd standing there.

"Oh my _God_," he gasped. For a big guy, Boyd could be really quiet. And like everyone else, Boyd hadn't thought the whole sleeping-in-a-heap-on-the-floor-with-a-bunch-of-guys-(and-Erica) was anything weird. In fact, the whole experience had broken the ice between Stiles and the rest of the pack.

"Sorry," Boyd said, and Stiles believed him to be honest. "I need your help."

Stiles swallowed and nodded, closing the door and slipping his bag over his shoulder. "Yeah, sure. Girl trouble, wolf trouble, whatever trouble, I'm your man."

"It's Erica," Boyd continued. Stiles arched an eyebrow. "I have to get her a Christmas gift."

"Oh." Stiles nodded. "Is this a Secret Santa thing or…?"

Boyd frowned slightly. "Derek told us to get something for one person…"

"Did he hand out like a list? I cannot see Derek hunched over a table one night, trying to decide who should buy a present for who. Like oh…would Jackson be able to handle a gift for Scott or just give him a punch in the face? Or what about Erica, would she just give everyone Playboys?" Stiles snorted and shook his head.

"I uh…I don't know," Boyd said. "I just dunno what to get for her."

"Of course not." Stiles clapped a hand on Boyd's shoulder—the guy was significantly taller than Stiles and it was slightly embarrassing—as they began to walk down the hall. "One, Erica is a girl who just recently decided to show off her goods. She'll be hard to please…or easy, I don't know. Two, she's a werewolf, and probably wouldn't take kindly to any gag jokes, so dog biscuits and a squeaky toy are out of the question."

Boyd let out a short laugh. "Man, I am so glad I don't have to spend any time in your brain."

88

Sunday night, Stiles was walking around a Wallgreens, picking up his prescription and some things for the house while trying to think of some good presents for the pack. Derek hadn't given him a hand picked pack member to buy a gift for, so he just figured he'd get something small for everyone. He was keeping his fingers crossed painfully in hopes that he would get a leather jacket from _someone_.

He was leaning over, checking out the vitamin bottles and trying to remember which ones the doctor said his dad should be taking, when a hand gripped his shoulder and pulled him up.

"Whoa, whoa," Stiles exclaimed, nearly dropping the prescription bags in his hands. "What the hell, Jackson!"

Because it was indeed Jackson who was confronting him. Away from school, at about ten-thirty at night on a Sunday, when no one from school would see him. Or maybe that was just old Stiles thinking, since Jackson ate lunch with Stiles and the rest of the pack every day at school, in plain view of everyone. "I was calling you, why didn't you answer your freakin' phone?" Jackson snarled.

Stiles held up his hands in surrender. "Uh…it's at home on the charger. What um…what can I help you with? Are you and Lydia back on again? Because the condoms are in the next isle."

Jackson narrowed his eyes in annoyance and gave Stiles a push backward. "I need you to do something for me." He pulled out his wallet and Stiles' eyes got big as he watched Jackson flip through a fifty and pull out two twenties, shoving them at Stiles, who eyed them like they were about to burst into flames.

"Are you paying me for any specific reason or are you just in the Christmas spirit?"

Jackson waved the money. "Just take it. I'm supposed to buy a present for McCall and you two are like joined at the hip so just buy him whatever."

Stiles stood his ground, not taking the money. "What? No, Derek told you to buy the present yourself. I can't go against the Alpha." He met Jackson's eyes with a challenge.

"You're not even a wolf," Jackson countered.

_Ouch_. "And you're still a jackass."

They stared each other down for a good solid minute before Stiles blinked and glanced down at the money. "Let's just settle for a happy medium okay? You buy the present, I'll tell you what to get."

Jackson clenched his jaw before taking back the money and nodding. "Fine. Just tell me so that I can go."

Stiles smiled triumphantly and shook his head. "No way. I've got shopping to do first. You probably stalked me so you could get me alone and I'm going to take my time." He leaned over again, pulling out a bottle that sounded right and adding it to the crook of his arm.

Jackson let out an impatient growl—maybe it wasn't the best to provoke a guy with such a short temper with a full moon the next night but Stiles' middle name was danger so why not?—and tapped his foot, trailing Stiles through the store as he slowly went through each aisle.

"Seriously, Stilinski? Just tell me what your little friend wants for freakin' Christmas!" Jackson's voice rose loudly by the end of his sentence.

Stiles shrugged. "I'm thinking. You're putting me under a lot of pressure here. My mind doesn't work well under pressure. Maybe you should like…give me some space?"

"Maybe you should stop testing me." Jackson looked dangerously close to wolfing out.

Stiles sighed and faced him. "Jesus Christ, Jackson, don't through a conniption fit. Look, Scott's easy to please."

"Just tell me."

"Calm down, wolfboy, don't blow a gasket. Look, Scott's my best friend, I can't have you buying him anything shitty."

Jackson let out a sigh and an "Unbelievable" under his breath, but continued to wait for Stiles to finish shopping without saying a word and keeping down his anger.

With his back turned, Stiles grinned from ear to ear.

88

Stiles and his dad had just settled down in the comfort of their living room to watch the midnight showing of the Grinch when there was a knock on the door. They exchanged looks and stood simultaneously. Stiles wondered if Jackson had followed him home after the run-in at Walgreens, but that didn't seem like something Jackson would do so he hovered by the couch as his dad went to the door. The elder Stilinski peeked through the peephole before letting out a breath, and the tension in his body and opening the door.

"Stiles, it's for you."

Stiles scrambled around the armchair and saw Erica standing outside the door, looking a little less put-together than usual. She was actually wearing a hoodie and her hair had gotten flat through the day—or maybe she hadn't curled it, Stiles had no idea what she did with herself every day—and she wasn't wearing any makeup.

"Hi," she said with a small smile. "I know it's late but…can I…?"

The Sheriff let out a breath and a nod and stepped aside. She walked in and glanced around. The house was warm and homey, and cleaner than she had expected from the look on her face.

"What're you doing here?" Stiles asked. "Did something happen?"

"Um…no." She bit down on her lip and glanced over at Mr. Stilinski, who was still standing there.

"Oh, right. Uh…" The older man shuffled into the living room, but that was less than three feet away. The sounds of Christmas bells and the narrator for the movie filled the house and he sat on the couch.

Stiles knew his dad wasn't paying any attention to the movie with the two of them standing there, so he grabbed Erica's wrist and began to pull her through the house. "We'll be in my room!" he called to his dad as he raced up the stairs. He let go of her wrist when he flicked on his light and swooped down to pick up a few pieces of dirty clothes and tossed them into the corner by his bed. He then sat in his computer chair and she slowly sat on the edge of his mattress, tucking her hands under her thighs and glancing around.

"So…is it the full moon? Are you feeling weird already?" he asked.

Erica turned her eyes to him and shook her head. "Not really." To be honest, this would only be her second full moon since she had been bitten just after one. And her first full moon…lets just say it hadn't been fun, but she was hoping this one would be better. "Not _yet_, I guess."

Stiles wet his lips and nodded, rubbing his palms on his apartment pants. "So you came to my house at midnight for…?"

"Oh, right." She shook her head and leaned forward. "I have to get a gift for Jackson."

Stiles should have known. While it was all good that he was suddenly part of the pack, he was being run dry of ideas for his own ideas of gifts with having to help everyone. "For Jackson?" He made a face and let his head fall back against the chair. "What do you get a jerkface werewolf who has everything?"

Erica sighed. "That's exactly my problem."

"Why are you asking me? Why don't you ask Lydia? She knows him best."

Erica raised an eyebrow. "Ask Lydia what to buy her boyfriend for Christmas?"

Stiles made a face. "Ooh…probably not the best idea."

"Nope."

He frowned and ran a hand over his hair. "Um…look, I'm not a Jackson expert. Buy him a CD or a copy of _Running with the Wolves_."

Erica cracked a smile. "Something tells me he wouldn't find that funny."

"Sure, but it _would _be funny," Stiles pointed out with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Stiles!" His dad's voice came from downstairs. "Why don't you give Erica a ride back home?"

Stiles sighed and hung his head. His dad didn't know anything about the werewolves or the pack or the fact that Stiles was _in_ a werewolf pack. All the Sheriff knew was that Stiles was suddenly friends with a lot of people he wasn't friends with just a few months ago. Including a girl; which was strange for Stiles.

The two shuffled downstairs after Stiles shoved his feet into sneakers. The Grinch was still playing, and Mr. Stilinski eyed the both of them with average suspicion for a parent to have when their son had a girl in their room.

"Goodnight, Sheriff," Erica said, giving the man a smile and a small wave. Stiles pulled his jacket off the hook and they walked outside. Their breaths made puffs of steam in the cold air and Stiles had to coax his Jeep into turning on.

"So…a CD?" Erica asked when pulled away from his house.

"Sure. Wait…do people even buy CD's anymore?" Stiles furrowed his brow.

88

Monday afternoon, Sheriff Stilinski was at work and Stiles was catching up on his MMORPG and didn't notice a thing until someone kicked his chair and he nearly choking himself with his headphone wire trying spinning around.

"Derek!" Stiles exclaimed, untangling himself from the wire and pushing himself to his feet. Which only brought him toe to toe with Derek, who didn't move back. Stiles swallowed. "What are you uh…" He glanced down and then chided himself. _Why are you looking at his lips, Stiles!_ "What're you doing here?"

Derek's nostrils flared for a moment before he took a step back. "Tonight's the full moon," he said, talking slowly and deliberately.

"Yes," Stiles nodded. "Since I'm surrounded by people who go loco under the full moon I've taken it upon myself to follow the lunar cycle. I think my dad is wondering whether I'm turning into a wizard or a girl…I don't know."

Derek furrowed his eyebrows.

"So uh…should I help you? Is that why you came? Wait…" Stiles glanced over at his open window. "You crawled through the window? Did you not see that my dad's car isn't in the front? Do you know how to use a door?" Shaking his head, Stiles walked over to push closed the window to try to keep in the heat.

"Stay away tonight."

"What?" Stiles closed the window with a bang and whirled around. "What? Why? Don't you need help with everyone?"

The muscles in Derek's jaw moved as he clenched his teeth. "Not from you."

Stiles tried not to look hurt.

"Scott is fine…Jackson has the shift under control enough to help," Derek explained.

Of course. This would be Scott's fourth full moon, Jackson and Isaac's third—though Isaac had too many issues from his past to control himself yet— and Erica and Boyd's second. Too many teen werewolves who could rip Stiles to pieces. Stiles tried to feel like Derek was just protecting him, but he couldn't help but feel like he was back to not belonging to the pack.

Derek could smell the disappointment coming from Stiles.

Stiles sucked in a breath and turned his eyes from the floor to Derek. "Yeah, okay, sure," he said, trying to not sound like someone had just knocked the wind out of him.

Derek frowned. Like an actual frown, not a broody look. His eyebrows furrowed even. "Stiles," he said, taking a step forward.

Stiles stepped back. "It's cool, really. I get it." He walked around Derek, giving him a wide berth, to stand by his door. "Full moon, bloodylusty werewolves, claws, teeth, Stiles, death. I get it."

"It's for your safety," Derek explained, saying just what Stiles was thinking, but hating. Stiles didn't want to be protected _all_ the time. He thought he had done enough to show he could handle himself. "You should be with your father anyway. It's almost Christmas."

Stiles nodded once. Christmas was supposed to be a happy time, and he had always strived to make it a not-so-painful time for his father ever since that first Christmas the two of them had had alone. His dad had tried doing everything his mom had, getting up at five, even before Stiles, to make pancakes—which he burned—so Stiles could shove some food down his throat before he opened some gifts. Stiles was eleven, but he hadn't been looking forward to Christmas. There were only a few gifts, most of them sent from other family members, and Stiles actually choked down the burned pancakes and tried to look excited but not too excited opening gifts from people who he hadn't even known existed until the funeral. His dad had ended up going into the kitchen and crying, thinking Stiles didn't notice, but he had. Ever since then, Stiles had taken it upon himself to do his very best at making Christmas not so awful for his dad.

Time to put all the werewolf business aside. He had been ignoring and lying to his dad for too long. He had to try to make it up to him. "You've become Father Christmas right? Everyone's been asking me what gifts to get each other," Stiles grumbled.

"Really?" Derek sounded surprised.

"Yes," Stiles emphasized with his hands. "It's kind of ridiculous. Jackson almost wolfed out in a Walgreens and Erica showed up at my door at midnight. My life is sort of a whirlwind right now." And he wasn't just talking about the werewolf situation. He was thinking of a single werewolf problem, of which the central figure was standing right there…a few feet away.

Derek got all serious-faced over the Jackson almost wolfing out in public thing. "Just…stay in tonight," he said, walking toward the doorway.

"That's all you came to say?" Stiles asked, before biting his tongue and telling himself to quit talking before his mind caught up.

Derek stopped, level with Stiles, eyes searching the carpet for answers. "Yes."

"Good." Stiles stood up a little straighter.

Derek looked at him, locking eyes for a few seconds in a non-glare and making Stiles almost lose his balance. Either Derek knew exactly what was going on with Stiles, or he was just as confused at Stiles' antics as Stiles was, and Stiles wasn't about to ask Derek about it _now_. Stiles wasn't even sure when Derek left his room, but he found himself alone, a weird feeling in his stomach that he wasn't sure was good or bad.

"At least he used the door," he muttered, shuffling back to his computer.

88

Stiles groaned and rolled over, slapping his hand around looking for his phone. He knocked it off his table and nearly fell off his bed grabbing it.

"Hello?" he grumbled, though his throat was dry and he could have basically just grunted and gotten the point across.

"Dude, I need your help." It was Scott. He was sounding way too peppy for being up early on a vacation morning. Especially one after a full moon.

Stiles struggled to put his mind into gear. It took a few seconds, but once it was sparked up, it was there in overdrive. "Wait, wait, let me guess." He rolled onto his back and pressed his fingers against his eyelids. "Christmas gift for…Isaac?"

Stiles could practically hear Scott do a double take through the phone. "How did you know?"

"Because I'm _awe_some," Stiles replied.

"No seriously. Derek is gunna kick my ass if I don't get Isaac a present," Scott explained.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "You're the one who spent the full moon with everyone…didn't you get any ideas?"

"Not really, Stiles. I was too busy trying to keep them from mauling me," Scott sighed overdramatically.

"How was Jackson?" Stiles ventured to ask, sitting up and blinking widely at his dimly lit room. He loved winter because sunrises were late.

"With the shifting? Pretty good, I guess. He and I pretty much had to stand guard and Derek did his best to Alpha the others into…"

"Submission?"

"Basically."

"And see, you wonder why I don't want to be a werewolf, Scott. That does not sound like a fun way to spend the night." Not that Stiles' had had it any better. He stayed online most of the time, though he swore he kept hearing wolf howls and then he had almost googled 'how do you gay' at three in the morning because he couldn't think straight or concentrate on anything.

Scott growled with frustration. "Can you help me or what?"

"Yeah, yeah. Let me just like…get up and eat something and I'll come pick you up. Try to use your wolfy little brain of yours to think of an idea or two before I show up. I can't do all the work. I am not a Christmas slave." He hung up before Scott could ask him what the hell he was talking about.

Stiles was sour about yesterday. He hadn't meant to act so…snappy around Derek. He hated that he had, actually. Stiles could singlehandedly ruin this entire wolfpack thing for himself if he kept this sort of shit up.

Forty minutes later, and after explaining to his dad that he and Scott were going out to get gifts, Stiles was pulling up in front of the McCall house. He was just about to cut off the engine when Scott barreled out of the door. He jumped in the Jeep's passenger side and Stiles pulled away from the curb.

"Hey," Scott said, rubbing his hands together. It was brisk outside, since they did live in northern California and all.

"Hey," Stiles said, keeping his eyes on the road and trying not to think about Derek. Which was growing difficult. "Did you think of any ideas?"

Scott shook his head. "No. I asked Allison…she didn't know either."

Stiles nodded. "That really narrows it down. I think we can like…I dunno, buy him…snacks."

"Snacks?"

Stiles shrugged and threw his hand up in the arm. "I don't know! Isaac likes to eat right?"

"Everyone likes to eat."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Did you ask Derek? Didn't he orchestrate who would buy gifts for who?"

Scott furrowed his eyebrows, looking over at his best friend, but not answering.

Stiles glanced over and saw the intense look on Scott's face. "What? What? Did you hear something with your wolfears? Or do I have something on my face?"

"No," Scott said uncertainly. "But you're uh…you're mad at Derek."

Stiles gulped. "What?"

"You're mad at Derek."

Stiles forgot that you basically couldn't hide anything around a werewolf. It drove him mad and made him realize that Derek probably knew exactly how Stiles was feeling about him lately. Crap. "Uh…yeah. He snuck into my room to tell me to stay in yesterday."

"Because of the full moon."

"Yes. But…it's not like I haven't handled you on a full moon before." Stiles waved a hand at Scott.

"Yeah but it was just me. There was a whole pack…the need to shift is greater with more wolves around," Scott tried to explain, but he was really bad at explaining the whole werewolf thing to Stiles. Or to anyone, for that matter.

Stiles frowned. "Derek was able to handle it?"

Scott nodded, though that confused look was back on his face. "Yeah. Stiles…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't…don't freak out, but I have to tell you something."

"Jesus, Scott, what?" Saying not to freak out was exactly the thing that made Stiles freak out. Or any rational person. It was like embedded in the human psyche.

"You sort of…you sort of…smell different," Scott said slowly.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the road and looked over at Scott as he stopped at a redlight. "Smell different?"

"Yeah like…when you're talking about Derek." Scott was giving Stiles that 'I'm your best friend and I'm only telling you this because of that' look.

Stiles gaped at Scott. "I _smell different_?" he emphasized.

Scott nodded.

Stiles turned back to the road and the Jeep lurched forward as the light switched to green. "Different…like…how?"

"Like…attraction. But…more than that."

Stiles sucked in a breath and let it out. "So…the others…they'd have noticed?"

"I don't know. But um…is…there something going on with you and Derek?"

"Pfft." Stiles really didn't know the answer and it was driving him crazy. "The hell if I know."

"Oh. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I mean…it's weird. You've always been my friend, but now that you're like…in the pack, I feel differently about you too." Scott furrowed his eyebrows.

_Fantastic_. "Oh yeah? It was nice of Derek to mention the side affects of becoming a part of the pack," Stiles muttered sarcastically. "How different do you feel about me? Because…this is starting to feel really too weird."

"It's not bad," Scott turned in his seat. "I just…like the other night, during the frost we were all sleeping together."

_And that sounds like the beginning of a porno_. "Yeah, I was there."

"Yeah…and it was fine right? Like it was completely normal to see you like…lying on Derek and for everyone to just…get close."

Stiles nodded. "Actually…Derek told me that wolves like to be close. Like it's no big deal."

"Exactly. And I feel…I dunno, closer and more protective of you," Scott frowned.

Stiles made a 'that's cool' face. "Okay. So it's just like…a boost to our friendship. It's cool," he said. They had gotten to the mall, where they were bound to find something for Isaac. Stiles pulled into the garage and darkness enveloped them for a moment before his eyes got adjusted to the dim yellow lights. He parked the Jeep and they got out, shoving hands away from the cold and racing to the door. "So, just so we've got everything sorted…I don't know what's up with Derek…and me. I basically have my own werewolf army backing me up because I'm part of the pack. You're actually taking time to spend with me instead of the lovely, but attention hogging Allison. And we have no idea what to get Isaac."

Scott shrugged. "Pretty much."

88

Stiles was patiently waiting for Isaac to pop up out of nowhere to help with his gift for…Boyd. It had to be Boyd since he was the last one, not including Stiles or Derek. Stiles himself was having a hard time buying gifts for everyone, since he had put so much effort into finding each of them gifts to get each other. And he was really cutting it close. There were only two days until Christmas. He was just going to have to brave the mall and hope he wasn't trampled to death by some crazy last-minute-shopping-moms.

"Yo, dad," Stiles said, pulling on his jacket as he came down the stairs. The Sheriff was sitting in the living room, looking relaxed and watching one of the many Christmas movies that were playing day and night.

"Yo, son." He turned to look at Stiles, who cracked a grin.

"I'm going out. I have to pick up some presents."

"Again? Didn't you just go out with Scott?"

"Yeah but I didn't get anything."

"Way to wait til the last minute. Are you getting me something?"

Stiles shrugged. "Maybe. I'll be back when I'm back!" He started toward the door.

"Be careful on the roads!"

Stiles shuffled over to his Jeep and hopped in. He should have let her run for a bit first, but he managed to get her out of the driveway and down the road without her stalling from the cold. He had already gotten his dad his gift. Christmas with the Stilinskis was notoriously small. In fact, all those relatives Stiles had no idea existed just a few years ago had stopped sending gifts and just sent cards so it was basically just his dad and him since his grandparents on both sides were gone and neither of his parents had siblings. All the rest of his family was very distant.

He drove cautiously. He hadn't heard anything from Derek since before the full moon and it was really bugging him. He asked Scott about him, and all Scott said was that Derek was being broodier than usual, probably due to this being his first Christmas without Laura. Right. Stiles knew how Derek felt.

The mall was, indeed, packed. He had to park way out in the middle of nowhere and hunch his back against the nasty wind that picked up. He was wearing a puffy winter coat—he wasn't a cool werewolf who could walk around in a leather jacket year round and not get frozen to the bone—and his nose felt like it was about to fall off by the time he was stepping into the warm and crowded mall.

He slipped through huge crowds of mostly parents, middle aged people who thought they could wait to buy gifts and then BOOM! Christmas was on Friday and it was Wednesday and things had to start getting bought.

He hoped he could find some good things for the pack.

He was just poking through the first store that wasn't filled from wall to wall when someone slipped behind him. "Stiles." The voice was smooth, and belonged to a certain werewolf that Stiles had been waiting before.

Stiles didn't turn around, continuing to look over the rack of t-shirts in front of him. "Isaac, I see you've come to the Stiles-is-freakin'-Santa-Claus-line. Please take a number," he said with a little chuckle.

"Stiles," Isaac said again.

"What?" Stiles turned to look at him and was sort of shocked at the skiddish look on Isaac's face. Of course, it made sense with all of these people pushed around them. This wasn't like school, where there was plenty of room in the halls and rooms and on the field…Isaac didn't do good with people touching him. Except the pack; he seemed okay with that. "Uh…right. C'mon." Stiles pushed through the crowd and nearly hugged the line of storefronts until they got to a service hall, which was empty save for a payphone and a few doors.

"I've got to get something for Boyd," Isaac said once they were away from the crowds. He leaned against one wall and Stiles did the same across from him.

"Right, yeah. He's the last one."

"Last one?"

"Oh yeah…everyone else asked me for help too. It's cool." Stiles shrugged.

Isaac nodded. "So uh…who's getting something for me?"

Stiles shook his head. "No-oh way, buddy. I'm not breaking Derek's little Secret Santa thing. You all will just have to find out on Friday."

Isaac frowned slightly. "Fine. So, Boyd?"

"Boyd, yes. Great guy. Good with the Zamboni." Boyd had also been the first to come to Stiles for help. He seemed to take this whole gift thing seriously, so he would need some sort of supergift, for sure. "Uh…do _you_ have any ideas?"

"He…he likes lacrosse," Isaac said. He was obviously putting more thought into this than the other guys had. Which was somewhat surprising, but not at the same time. If you really thought about it, the pack was practically Isaac's sanctuary from his life of hell. Of course he would feel strongly about the packmembers, probably moreso than the others because he could really appreciate them. "And cars."

"And girls. I'm guessing," Stiles added offhandedly. "Oh! Why don't you get him like…those little tree air freshners? Like…a gag gift. I think he'd like a gag gift and not like, tear your face off."

Isaac looked at him like he had an eye in the middle of his forehead.

"Or…not? A real gift? Meaningful? Uh…a puppy?"

Isaac rolled his eyes. "I knew I should have asked Erica." He pushed himself away from the wall.

"Hey, hey, c'mon now," Stiles said. "I'll be serious. Promise."

Isaac turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"Wait…did you follow me here?" Stiles asked. "Are you stalking me?"

"No," Isaac said, shaking his head. "Are you going to help me, or not?"

"I am. But I have to buy things too, so we'll do yours then you go off and wrap the thing and leave me in peace."

With that decided, they kept to the least filled stores, talking a bit and trying to brainstorm something for Boyd. All the while, Stiles was trying to figure out what _he_ was going to buy. The only thing he could think of was dog beds, which just brought about hilarious images in his mind that made him shake his head and laugh and tell Isaac about, because he was there. And then Isaac laughed and gave him a little shove into a clothing rack, which toppled over into another and another and they bolted from that store as fast as they could.


End file.
